The end of a loyalist ‘supergrass’ trial, which saw twelve alleged
unionist paramilitaries cleared of the murder of UDA leader Tommy
English in 2000, has again raised fresh question marks over the
credibility of the so-called ‘justice system’ in the North of Ireland.

The biggest and most expensive case of its kind in years -- with the
bill expected to be in excess of ten million pounds -- ended with just
one relatively minor conviction.

As the stream of notorious loyalists walked jauntily from Belfast Crown
Court on Wednesday, a blame game began to play out between the Six
County Minister for Justice David Ford, Crown prosecutors, and the PSNI
police.

The trial was prompted by ‘Operation Ballast’, which uncovered deep and
ongoing collusion between the PSNI (and formerly the RUC) with the
notorious Mount Vernon gang, a powerful UVF death squad in north
Belfast.

Justice campaigner Raymond McCord said he was “disgusted”, but vowed to
fight on to secure justice for his son, who was also murdered by the
Mount Vernon gang, reportedly on the orders of Mark Haddock himself.
McCord’s quest for justice led to the original unprecedented
investigation by the then Police Ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan, into the role
of police agents within the UVF in north Belfast.

Fears had grown over the years that the trial would be ‘spiked’ as both
the UVF and the Crown forces deeply opposed efforts to expose the truth
behind the Mount Vernon gang.

A threat by the UVF to return to violence if the trial led to
convictions was linked to an elaborate bomb hoax outside a Catholic
girls’ school in north Belfast on Wednesday morning.

But the real hoax had already taken place at Belfast Crown Court.

SUPERGRASS

The use of ‘supergrasses’ -- insiders turned accusers -- is normally
almost exclusively against republican groups, such as Raymond Gilmore
(against the INLA, in 1983), Eamon Collins (against the Provisional IRA,
in 1985), and David Rupert (against the Real IRA, in 2000).

Republicans had long doubted that a pro-British justice system in the
North would accept the evidence of a supergrass against well-connected
British agents such as Mark Haddock.

The transfer of Operation Ballast from the relatively independent
Historical Enquiries Team to the deeply implicated PSNI, almost two
years ago, confirmed doubts among the gang’s victims that justice would
be served.

The evidence presented by brothers Robert and Ian Stewart, over the
unprecedented 21-week course of the trial was confused, and te
‘supergrasses’ were clearly unprepared for cross-examination.

When it became clear early on that neither the prosecution nor the
defence had any interest in calling to the stand the Crown Force
handlers of the various double-agents and informers, the judge’s
decision appeared inevitable.

Freeing the gang on Wednesday, Justice Gillen blamed the two brothers
who he said had been “flatly contradicted by unchallenged independent
evidence throughout the process.”

Even the defence lawyers could not understand the PSNI’s apparent
disinterest in securing a prosecution in the trial.

“The PSNI had a gung-ho attitude to this case,” said John Greer, legal
representative of one of the accused.

“It’s difficult to understand how the PSNI and PPS (prosecution service)
at an early stage could not have seen that their witness evidence was
highly suspect and unreliable.”

Outside the court, Ken Wilkinson of the Progressive Unionist Party,
which is linked to the UVF, admitted the case was a “show trial”.

So-called ‘Minister for Justice’ David Ford denied he had a role to play
in the aftermath of the verdict. When prosecutors suggested the two
supergrasses should face charges, Mr Ford said: “That is an issue for
the PPS not an issue for the Minister of Justice.”

Commenting on the verdict, Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly said: that at the
outset of the process, his party had raised “serious concerns” about the
decision to proceed with a supergrass trial and the quality of this PSNI
investigation.

“This process has done nothing to bring truth and closure to the victims
families of the Mount Vernon UVF,” he said.

“Regardless of these verdicts what is beyond any doubt is that Mark
Haddock was a British State Agent who controlled, manipulated and
directed the entire UVF operation in Mount Vernon. They were allowed to
kill with impunity for many years.

“What has not happened through this trial has been any shining of light
on those who handled Mark Haddock and other agents within the Mount
Vernon UVF and their complicity in many killings and other UVF activity
carried out during that period.

“What the families of the victims need is truth and closure. What we
don’t need is another debacle created by the use of a discredited
supergrass system.”

UVF MURDER BID

In a separate incident this week, a leading UVF figure, Stephen
‘Mackers’ Matthews, survived an apparent assassination attempt in east
Belfast. The motivation behind the attack remains unclear, but it is
thought to have involved a dispute among the UVF leadership.

The attack took place as Matthews gotout of his car at about 1.20am on
Saturday but the shot missed. After missing his target with his first
shot, the gunman ran after him and tried to shoot again but his gun
jammed. The gunman then made off on foot.

Matthews is considered the most formidable and dangerous loyalist
leaders in east Belfast. Reports suggested the UVF kingpin may have
somehow incurred the wrath of the organisation’s leadership based in the
Shankill area of the city.

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